Chappaqua gets state-aid windfall, lowers school-tax hike

Apr. 4, 2013

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CHAPPAQUA — The Chappaqua Central School District will be able to reduce its 2013-14 tax levy increase from 2.4 percent to 2.06 percent because of an unexpected windfall in state aid.

The state money, about $344,765, is also expected to cut the district’s tax rate increase to 2.25 percent in New Castle, where 90 percent of Chappaqua students live, and 2.71 percent in Mount Pleasant, where the other tenth reside. The final tax rate increases will not be set until July, assistant superintendent for business John Chow said.

As recently as Tuesday, the district was predicting a 2.4 percent tax levy increase, but the increase to “the state aid pot” came as a surprise, Chow said.

“We were able to reduce the tax levy. … We had a pretty large increase (in state aid) overall from year to year,” he said.

The budget’s spending increase is a sharp jump from last year’s 0.68 percent increase and is the district’s highest uptick in spending since the 2008-09 budget, which saw a 5.25 percent increase from the previous year.

The district also stands to save about $1.5 million over the next two years through a memorandum of agreement signed with the teachers union that will freeze step pay increases and increase employees’ contributions to their healthcare costs, among other measures.

A similar agreement was also ratified with the district’s Civil Service Employees Association that stands to save Chappaqua about $80,000 over the next two years, Chow said.

The budget, up for a vote on May 21, is also expected to cut more than 12 jobs through a mix of layoffs and attrition.

Chow said the cuts, many of which will occur at the elementary school level, stem from a decrease in district enrollment. About 50 fewer students are expected to attend Chappaqua schools next year, he said.

“We had some opportunities to reduce sections at the elementary school, so that helped,” he said. “Also, we had a change of the elementary schedule and that helped save some jobs.”

Chow said he expects district parents to be reasonably satisfied with the budget.

“For our residents, the first thing they want to know is, ‘Are we going to minimally maintain the quality of education?’” he said. “Obviously, they would like for us to continue to improve, and that’s also what our goals are.”